Dilute Fluid Governed by Quantum Fluctuations

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 121; no. 17; p. 173403
• Main Authors: Jørgensen, Nils B, Bruun, Georg M, Arlt, Jan J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Physical Society 26-10-2018
• Subjects: Correlation analysis; Energy measurement; Excitation spectra; Expanding universe theory; Quantum phenomena
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.173403

Understanding the effects of interactions in complex quantum systems beyond the mean-field paradigm constitutes a fundamental problem in physics. We show how the atom numbers and interactions in a Bose-Bose mixture can be tuned to cancel mean-field interactions completely. The resulting system is entirely governed by quantum fluctuations-specifically the Lee-Huang-Yang correlations. We derive an effective one-component Gross-Pitaevskii equation for this system, which is shown to be very accurate by comparison with a full two-component description. This allows us to show how the Lee-Huang-Yang correlation energy can be accurately measured using two powerful probes of atomic gases: collective excitations and radio-frequency spectroscopy. Importantly, the behavior of the system is robust against deviations from the atom number and interaction criteria for canceling the mean-field interactions. This shows that it is feasible to realize a setting where quantum fluctuations are not masked by mean-field forces, allowing investigations of the Lee-Huang-Yang correction at unprecedented precision.